Her Sunshine Smile
by LauraHannah90
Summary: Out of fifty-two weeks of the year, Charlie only gets Bella for two of them during the summer. It just so happens that the one fine sunny day in Forks is during Bella's visit. Entry for: 'Novel Novice Twilight - One Fine Summer Day' contest. O/S


"Her Sunshine Smile"

By LauraEmily18

Written for 'Novel Novice Twilight – One Fine Summer Day' Contest

Summary: Out of fifty-two weeks of the year, Charlie only gets Bella for two of them during the summer. It just so happens that the one fine sunny day in Forks is during Bella's visit. Entry for: 'Novel Novice Twilight - One Fine Summer Day' contest.

* * *

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Bella's call echoed throughout the two bedroomed house as she came pounding out of her bedroom, running clumsily into her father's. He groaned, rolling over and noting the time on the alarm clock beside his bed.

"Daddy, look!"

She jumped onto his bed, her long brown curls framing her face, as she tried to yank the bedcovers off of Charlie. Her hands patted her father's legs, trying to grab his attention, getting impatient when he didn't acknowledge her.

Finally, Charlie perched himself up on his elbow. "What is it, Bells?" he said, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Sun! In _Forks, _Daddy!"

She was practically breathless, excitement possessing her body, as she rushed over to the curtains and tried to pull them back. Her five-year old frame was a little too short to manage the task completely, but she tried her hardest. Much to Bella's satisfaction, a small gap appeared, allowing sunlight to pour through and illuminated Charlie's darkened bedroom.

Even Bella, five years old and a temporary visitor to Forks, knew that sun was extremely rare. In all of her summers here, there hadn't been one ounce of sun to enjoy. Renée always sent her with a small suitcase full of longsleeved shirts, cardigans, long jeans, sneakers and lots of socks. The raincoat that Charlie had bought her remained in her bedroom even when she'd returned home. Why would you need a raincoat in California, anyway?

"Can we go out and play in it, Daddy, _pleeeaaassee?_" she gushed excitedly, returning to the bed and jumping around a little.

Being inside could get boring when you stayed indoors every day for two whole weeks, hearing the rain splatter against the windows loudly - scarily, for a five-year old who was used to sun and sand - and watching the way the raindrops spiralled down against the glass.

"Sure, honey."

Charlie pushed himself out of bed. No matter how much he wanted to sleep, Bella was here for _two_ weeks; two measly weeks out of the fifty two in a year and he wasn't wasting a minute of it. It was the only time he ever took off work.

Taking her small hand in his, he led Bella into her bedroom. She'd only been here for four days so far but already there were clothes and toys strewn carelessly around the place. Sometime in the next ten days, either Bella or Charlie would trip over the misplaced items. The pink plasters would be fetched from the cabinet in the bathroom and Bella would put on a brave face; Charlie would silently curse the Barbie doll whose head he'd just trodden on.

It usually took Bella two days to revert back to her normal self. What killed Charlie most was that for those first two days, Bella was shy, reserved, like a stranger in his house.

"What do you wanna wear today, Bells?" he asked her, reaching into the drawers where the clothes were folded. "This?" Charlie held up a small pink shirt, but Bella shook her head.

"Mommy only packed me clothes for _cold_ weather. It's sunny, Daddy!"

She pushed Charlie aside gently, and she started rummaging through her drawers to find something suitable. She had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach the highest drawer, but Bella's efforts weren't wasted. After a couple of minutes, she found a short sleeved tee-shirt, probably the only one, and a skirt that was meant to be worn with thick tights.

"These!"

Charlie went to lift Bella's pjyama top from her, but she moved away.

"I can dress myself now, Daddy, remember?"

Oh, yeah, Charlie thought. Last time she'd visited, Bella had needed his help to dress, getting in a tangle with her shirts and struggling to fasten the buttons of her tiny jeans. When she'd got here four days ago, however, Bella had insisted she could do it herself now. Another thing that Charlie hated… ignorance to Bella's progress. He didn't know whether she could dress herself or still needed a diaper at bed time, because he wasn't there to know. Sometimes Renée filled him in over the phone when they spoke, and Bella bragged about her progress at the weekends when she rang him, but it wasn't nearly enough.

"Sorry, honey. I'll, uhm, go get dressed too, then."

Charlie should have showered, but he always did it when Bella was in bed during the time she stayed over. After Bella's evening bath, he'd watch the kid programmes on the TV and read her stories before tucking her into bed. Then he'd do the things he needed to do, like clean up the mess and shower. Never a wasted minute with Bella.

He dressed quickly, swapping baggy sweat pants he slept in for scruffy jeans and a tee-shirt, pulling on socks and his shoes.

When he returned to Bella's room, she was shrugging on a tee-shirt. Charlie watched patiently as she assured him firmly that she could do it herself. Finally, she attempted to put on her own socks but struggled to put them on straight.

"It feels funny, Daddy," Bella moaned, looking up at him with her brown eyes, batting her lashes. Kneeling down, Charlie came to the rescue, straighening them up and making sure the toes were where they were supposed to be. He gave her toes a tickle, making Bella squeal loudly before hopping off the bed. "That's better." She smiled and then planted a kiss on Charlie's cheek.

Charlie brushed her hair, and then she brushed her teeth by the sink, a towel over her clothes to stop her spilling toothpaste on her shirt. They'd made that mistake before, having to change clothes again when a striking white smudge on her t-shirt wouldn't wipe away. When she'd finished, she looked at Charlie expectantly.

"Breakfast?"

Slipping her hand into Charlie's, Bella walked down the stairs, holding tightly onto his hand and the stair rail to stop her from slipping. She still treated the stairs with caution after she'd fallen the last couple of steps last summer, bumping her head and sending Charlie into an irrational state of panic.

"So what do you want?" Charlie asked, opening the fridge. He took out the orange juice and flicked the kettle on to boil, pouring Bella's juice into a plastic cup that had bunnies on.

What Charlie hated about every summer was the goodbye; he looked forward to Bella visiting all year long. And when she'd gone, Charlie would go round and tidy away her things. The toys would be collected up and taken back up to the box in her bedroom. He'd have to replace some of them for next time, knowing she'd have outgrown that Barbie doll by next summer, preffering the newer model. He'd return the childrens books to the library, fully aware that he'd have to take out books for _six_ year olds next year. He'd place the little pink cups and child cutlery to the back of his cupboards to collect dust, wash Bella's sheets on her small bed and fold them neatly in the drawer until he'd take them out again a year later. And like the previous years, he'd repeat the routine with misty eyes and a lump in his throat.

"What you got?" Bella smiled, rushing over to the fridge to peer inside, standing on her tip toes.

Charlie always got toast, pre-made pancakes, croissants or cereal. He could cook breakfast, if need be. How hard could frying some bacon be? It was meal times that he struggled. Bella got bored of chicken nuggets and oven chips by about the end of the first week.

"Same as yesterday."

"Okay.. erm." She paused. "Errrrrrrm…." Bella bit her lip with her small milky teeth. "Errrrrmmm…"

"Hurry up, Bells."

"Okay, toast and jam." She grinned widely, taking her plastic cup of orange juice over to the kitchen table – with _both _hands so she didn't drop it accidently, like last time – and pushed herself up onto the chair.

Charlie placed the bread into the toaster, a slice for Bella and two for himself. He put the jar of jam and a butter knife of the table, telling Bella not to touch it, scared she'd slice her finger off.

"What are we doing today, Daddy?" Bella asked as Charlie placed a plate of toast in front of her. He leant over to spread the jam, cutting it into squares and then sorted his own out.

"We could go to La Push?"

"What's La Push?"

"It's a place, Bella. It has a beach?" he suggested, hoping that'd convince her. Luckily, Bella nodded happily, taking a bite of her toast.

By the time they'd eaten, Bella's hands were sticky and her mouth had crumbs and deposit of jam around her lips.

"Come here, you messy pup." Charlie laughed as he got the baby wipes from by the sink, wiping away the stickiness. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, and I don't need a coat this time, Daddy, do I?" Bella grinned as Charlie fastened the buckles of her little shoes.

Of course, by the time it took them to get ready, it seemed like half the day had passed. That's what happened when little girls wanted to do _everything _for themselves, slowing down the process to half its normal speed. When they walked out of the door, the sun was hovering half way in the sky.

Charlie was pleased the sun had come out, for no other reason than Bella had this great reaction to it. She smiled hard when they walked out the door, bouncing around in the sun with her hair twirling and her laughter echoing.

Hearing Bella laugh was the best sound in the world, for Charlie. It was better than the cheers around a baseball ground, or the sound of a beer can being opened. He tried everything to make her laugh: funny faces, dropping socks accidentally or tickling her feet. On the phone, he told awful jokes that Bella giggled at although she didn't really understand them.

Charlie fastened her into the car seat in the back of his cruiser, got in himself, and started the engine. Pressing the tape into the cassette player in his car, childrens songs began to pour out of the speakers, illustrating their surroundings with the words of these bright, happy tunes. Bella began to sing along quietly in the back.

"It's pretty here when it's sunny. It should be sunny more often," Bella stated, looking out of the window at the colours of the flowers and the trees that were emphasised in the sunlight. Clouds made it look boring to Bella.

Charlie laughed. "I'll tell the weatherman."

Soon enough, the cruiser drove them into La Push. He drove past Billy and Sarah's house, down to where the water could be seen. The sun was shining and reflecting off the water surface, as the tide lapped hungrily on the sand.

"I can see the sea!" Bella squealed excitedly, wiggling around in her car seat.

Charlie stopped the car. Getting out, he went around to unfasten Bella from the seat, helping her out and letting her run from him. She fell down after her first few steps, landing on all fours in the sand before getting up again, brushing herself off, and running clumsily towards the sea.

"Come on, Daddy!"

Charlie locked the car and began chasing Bella. She was laughing loudly, music to his ears. She squealed in delight when Charlie's arms swooped in around her, picking her up and swinging her. Her cheeks were rosy with excitement.

"Mommy takes me to a beach at home. I like beaches," Bella informed, plopping her bottom into the sand with a small thud.

His heart sunk when a small jolt of ache was sent through him. He didn't remind Bella she'd been to the beach here before. It was two years ago when Bella was three; it had ended in disaster when the cloudy day turned into awful rain. Without evening going in the sea, Charlie and Bella had returned home dripping wet and shivering from the cold.

"Can we paddle?"

Bella tried to pry her shoes off of her feet, grunting awkwardly when she pulled and they didn't come off. Bending down, Charlie undid her buckles and took her shoes off before doing the same to his own.

"Your trousers will get wet, Daddy." Bella pointed to the bottom of his jeans, dragging in the sand. "I'll roll them up," she said helpfully before getting on her knees at his feet. Her little fingers tried to fold the denim up but her attempts weren't very good. Charlie watched patiently as the denim was rolled up to just above his ankles.

"Thanks, honey."

Charlie took Bella's hand, not wanting to upset her, and began walking into the sea. The white froth bit at their toes, icy cold, despite the sun that was reflecting off the tide.

"It's cold, it's cold!" Bella squealed, hopping around and splashing Charlie with her quick movements. He felt the water seeping further up his jeans that were dangling in the sea. Bella's help really hadn't done much good at all.

"You get used to it," Charlie said, flinching at the splashes that were splattering his clothes as Bella kicked and splashed around. "Come on, we have to chase the waves."

"Daddy, there aren't any waves," Bella pointed out with a frown.

"These bits," Charlie said, running to the border where sand met water, showing Bella the white froth. "We chase them."

"How?"

"Come on, Bella, you've played chase before, right?"

"Only once. But then I fell over and then nobody wanted me on their team." Bella's smile disappeared as she remembered. "I grazed my knee and Mommy told me it didn't matter, and that the other kids were mean."

Charlie really didn't know what to say to make Bella smile again. The thought of other kids being mean to her made Charlie's blood boil, wanting to handcuff the lot of the them. It was hardly Bella's fault that she tripped a lot.

"Well… you can be on my team," Charlie said in a stage whisper.

Bella grinned. "That's the best team!"

Bella slid her hand into Charlie's again, tugging at his hand so he ran with her. Their feet hit the frothy waves that were washing up onto the sandy shore, sun gleaming across their hair and adding a sparkle of amusement to both of their eyes.

"Daddy, can we swim?" Bella asked, her dark lashes flickering over her chocolate eyes.

"No, honey. Sorry, it's just too cold."

"I can't feel my toes," Bella admitted sheepishly with a small giggle. The sun wasn't strong enough to warm the cool waters of La Push. "We could dig...?"

Nodding, Charlie stepped onto the wet sand, feeling the grains itching against the soles of his feet and swung Bella round to walk in front of him. There was a sense of warmth on the sand where the water hadn't touched, clinging to their wet feet like a fly to a web.

"We don't have a spade, Daddy."

Charlie couldn't think where they'd sell a spade in Forks, or at least not one for a beach and suitable for children. It wasn't exactly a vacation destination.

"We can use our hands?" he suggested, getting on his knees and shoveling with his fingers.

By digging a hole in one spot, it created a pile of sand in the other which Bella dutifully attended by patting it down, rushing to the sea and back again, cupping water in her hands to try and cement the sand together. The wind blew, sending grains into the air in a golden mist; Bella grinned at the magical display.

"Is that a castle, honey?" Charlie enthused, looking at Bella's hands patting the sand.

Slowly, she turned to look at her father, straight faced, wide eyed and extremely confused. "Daddy, it's a pile of sand."

Charlie tried to hold back his laugh. The way she deadpanned him when he was trying to get inside the head of a little girls imagination. But, no, just a pile of sand. Charlie chuckled.

"I see people on the beach just lying there," Bella said, looking at Charlie. She lay down on the sand, facing up at the sky to illustrate her point. "But I bet it gets boring after a while. And they wear their swimming costumes, too. But not many of them go into the sea to swim."

"Hmm."

"Mommy takes me sometimes. Except we have a bucket and spade and ice cream."

Charlie cursed himself. Forks wasn't seaside material though, really. But of course a young child associated the sun with these things.

"We could go find some ice cream?"

"From a truck?"

"No, honey. But I bet Billy has ice cream," Charlie said.

"Who's Billy?"

"You know Billy and Sarah. You saw them last time you came."

"Oh. Right." Bella didn't remember them, at all. "But they have ice cream?" Her voice picked up with excitement.

Charlie gave half a shrug, standing up and brushing off the sand from his jeans. Bella did exactly the same, copying her father's movements, before Charlie picked up their shoes.

He didn't put Bella's shoes on her though. Instead, he picked her up and swung her onto his back.

"Hold on."

She giggled as he ran, bobbing her up and down on his back. Squealing delightfully, she kept shouting for him to hurry up, exactly like she'd seen on the horse racing. She held on as tightly as she could, hands grasped around his neck with as much force as she could, laughing all the way back up to the car.

After fastening her in, Charlie drove until he could see Billy and Sarah's house. One of their daughters – Rebecca or Rachel, Charlie could never tell – was playing outside in the garden on the swing Charlie had helped assemble last month.

Getting out the car, Charlie unfastened Bella's car seat and helped her out.

"Hi, Charlie!" the little girl called. Charlie waved and Bella gave a small wave, too, looking at her father.

"Who's that?" she asked curiosly.

"You know her. It's R… R-"

"Charlie!" Billy appeared at the doorway, walking out towards him, picking his daughter up on the way over. "What you doing here?"

"Raiding your fridge," he called back. "What's new there, eh? Bella wants ice cream." Charlie indicated the small girl who was hiding shyly behind his legs.

"Oh, okay. Sarah's gone grocery shopping with Rebecca, so she'll be back in a little while. I think we've got some. It's all Jacob eats at the moment." Billy laughed loudly, placing Rachel on the floor.

Slowly, Rachel walked over to Bella, holding out her hand. "Do you want to come and play?"

"We're getting ice cream," Bella replied shyly.

"Sure we are, honey," Charlie said. "But go play with Rachel while we get it ready." He removed Bella from his legs and gave Bella a small push.

Stumbling forwards, Bella looked hesitantly through her long lashes, giving a nervous smile to the russet skinned girl with dark brown hair.

"I can push you on the swing?" the girl suggested and Bella nodded weakly. "I'm Rachel. You played with me last year."

"I'm Bella," she mumbled quietly as Charlie disappeared from her side and went to help Billy find the ice cream.

Jacob was playing on the floor of the living room, a little boy with masses of black hair.

"Ice cream, Jake?" Billy called, and Jacob nodded eagerly, walking over to his father. "Why don't you go play with Rach and Bella outside?"

Billy called Rachel, asking her to come get her brother. She came proudly, and took Jacob outside, almost dragging him as she attempted to carry him, much to his disgust. Charlie looked out the window, seeing Bella nervously on the swing and being pushed by Rachel after she'd given Jacob stones to play with.

"Couldn't you just buy some, Charlie?" Billy asked, pulling the tub from the freezer and spooning some into bowls.

"Well, yeah, but then she'd have to wait."

"She's got you wrapped around her little finger," Billy commented with a smile.

"Like your girls havent?" he said with a smirk. "She's liking the sun, anyway. We've just come back from the beach."

"Went better than last time, I'm guessing?"

"Well, it didn't rain."

Charlie took a bowl of ice cream from Billy, rooting through the drawers to find a spoon and placing it inside. He walked outside to Bella, Billy following behind him.

"Who wants ice cream for dinner?" Charlie called, handing Bella the bowl. She looked at it for a moment, examining the heaps and mounds of vanilla and chocolate ice-cream that were arranged like the highest mountain, wondering why it wasn't in a cone. She smiled anyway, however, and started to eat it.

"Heard you've been to the beach, Bella," Billy said, smiling, trying to help Jacob shovel his ice cream into his mouth fast enough without spilling any.

"Ah-huh."

Bella felt strange sitting here. These people weren't familiar to her, but her Daddy seemed to like them. She wanted to like them too, and Charlie kept telling her she knew them… but she didn't think she did. Rachel seemed nice, she thought, she liked being pushed on the swing _and _Rachel was _six! -_ but didn't like Rachel's questions about her Mommy and Daddy. The kids at school asked her that.

She ate her ice cream in silence, liking the familiar substance. There was lots of ice cream in California; it was something that Mommy always bought her from the supermarket, Bella remembered. Sometimes, it was all they'd got in before Renée had time to go shopping again. Only Renee gave it to her in a cone...

When the bowl was empty, Bella placed the spoon carefully in the bowl, very much aware that you should be nice and polite in front of strangers, and handed the bowl to Charlie.

"Can we go now, Daddy?" Bella whispered, leaning in to stop the other's hearing.

"Sure," Charlie said. Bella being unhappy or uncomfortable would be a wasted minute, and there was never a wasted minute in those two weeks that Bella was in Forks.

Charlie said goodbye to Billy, listening to his playful moans about being used only for food before yelling goodbye as Charlie drove off.

The tape began to play again, and a huge smile broke out across Charlie's face when the shy Bella disappeared and _his _Bella returned in her place. She sung quietly to the songs, getting louder on the words she was certain of.

He knew it was a little unsafe; hell, he'd been witness to however many accidents where the drivers were careless, or not paying full attention, but Charlie didn't put himself in those categories. How dangerous could a quick glance at his daughter through the mirror be?

He loved that smile that creased her face, showing those milky white teeth as she sang. Those eyes that scanned out of the window, looking at everything they drove past: people, trees, cars, absorbing every tiny detail, more thorough than the latest camera. Her hair, long and wavy, flowing down her shoulders like a cascading waterfall, framing her face in priceless magohany wood.

Charlie simply couldn't get enough of his daughter.

When Charlie pulled back at home, Bella frowned. She didn't want to go back yet; it was sunny! She didn't say anything as Charlie unfastened her, and she walked slowly to the front door.

"What now, then, Bells?" he asked, looking around at the accumulating mess.

Bella shrugged. "I don't know."

"We could play outside?" Charlie looked out of the window, smiling when he saw the golden light illuminating the blades of grass that swayed in the gentle breeze.

"Okay," Bella chirped.

From the cupboard upstairs, Charlie found out the picnic blanket that he hadn't used in almost four years. In the blanket, he placed a couple of Bella's story books and a few of her most-used toys. On his way outside, he stopped by the kitchen and got a tray of: soda (Bella knew the rules – don't tell Renée), cookies, chips and cupcakes that Charlie had stocked up for Bella's visit.

Once outside in the back yard, with the sun making unfamilar shadows and patterns across the lawn, Charlie lay down the blanket and placed the tray of goodies on top.

"A picnic!" Bella gasped excitedly, rushing over bare foot and practically pouncing on the blanket. "I love picnics!" she informed Charlie, who smiled happily. It was pure fluke, but it didn't make Bella's happiness any less significant.

"I thought you could read to me, Bella?" Charlie suggested, holding up one of her reading books as she bit hungrily into a cookie.

She nodded, taking the book from Charlie.

"Come sit here." He patted in front of his crossed legs, so Bella moved slowily to sit in front of him, leaning back to support herself against his chest and opening the book at the beginning.

Bella read slowly. There weren't many words on the page and, even then, they were basic simple words. She pointed to each word and read them clearly, stuttering at the word 'because', repeating it over and over until it sounded right to her ears.

After this book, she read him another, and another. Charlie helped her with the difficult words on the harder books, but Bella sometimes told him off, wanting to do it on her own. Bella loved to read. She liked the way the words sounded, and how she could finally put a sound to the letters on the page. It made her feel grown up.

By the time she'd read all of the books that Charlie had brought outside, almost two hours had passed. It was so easy for time to slip away with Bella as she brought youth and happiness into his life. The cookie supply had dwindled, and the cupcake wrappers were situated under the tray to stop them flying away in the breeze.

Charlie noticed that the sun was slowly turning to a radiant glow rather than a bright shine. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was five thirty. Had the day really gone so quickly?

"I think we should get some proper food, don't you?"

"I like cookies," Bella said with a frown.

"Hmm, what about… would you want a sandwich? Or we could have pizza?"

"I like pizza, too."

"Okay, but remember? Don't tell Mommy."

"It's okay, Daddy. She makes me eat icky stuff."

"Like what, honey?"

"Like… once, she went to a cooking class, and she wasn't good. We ordered pizza that night, so it's okay."

"Oh, right. Okay."

Charlie almost laughed but, instead, he stood up, shaking out the numb feeling in his legs, and started packing up the things. It was easily getting cold now, and he knew they'd have to go in soon, anyway.

"Bells, how about I make you a deal?" he asked, grabbing the attention of Bella. "How about you eat pizza in your pyjamas? Ever done that before?"

Bella shook her head with a smile as she helped pack away the things. She dragged the blanket inside, bringing grass and crumbs in with her. After setting the rubbish in the bin, setting the books on the table, and ordering the pizza, he took Bella's hand and carried her up the stairs as she giggled loudly.

Charlie ran some water into the bath, placing the pink Barbie boat and mermaid toy into the small bit of water at the bottom. He helped Bella undress, before testing the temperature and placing her in the bathtub.

As soon as she was in, Bella splashed Charlie with a mischievious grin on her face. Charlie gasped, but he knew it was coming; it was just what they did.

Reaching for the childrens shampoo Charlie had bought specially, he squirted some into his hands and rubbed it into Bella's hair whilst Bella played with the boat and the mermaid, talking for the mermaid in a low mumble.

"Tip your head back," Charlie instructed, using the shower head on gentle pressure to wash out the shampoo.

When Bella had splashed about for as long as she wanted to, making sure Charlie's shirt was successfully dripping thoroughly, Charlie lifted her out and wrapped her up in a large towel that went around her twice. Her body tightly bound, Bella shuffled across the bathroom floor to fall into Charlie, as he dried her hair with a towel, and then started towelling her body dry.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Charlie stood up, leaving Bella in the bathroom with promises he'd be right back, and answered the door. He paid the delivery man, and left the pizza on the table to run back up to Bella.

"Quickly, then. Dinner's here."

Charlie unwrapped Bella and she rushed into her bedroom and hurriedly tried to put her pyjamas on.

"Your shirt's on backwards, honey," Charlie pointed out, taking her shirt off and slipping it back on the right way. "Do you want your dressing gown, Bells?"

"No. You don't need dressing gowns when it's sunny."

Smiling, Charlie and Bella walked down the stairs to the waiting pizza. As Bella pulled herself up onto the sofa, her small feet dangling off the end, Charlie handed her a piece on a plastic plate with a sheet of kitchen towel.

The TV got switched on and bright colours of the childrens programme luminated the room, the songs of the characters sounding throughout as Bella tried to eat her slice of pizza with her animated smile.

When the programme came to a close, at seven o'clock, Charlie asked Bella if she wanted any more pizza, but she refused with a yawn.

"Ready for bed, are we?"

"Ah-huh," she said tiredly. The fresh air must have worn her out.

Taking Bella in his arms, Charlie carried her up the stairs and into her room. Placing her on the bed, she slid inside the covers. Charlie got on her narrow bed, half of his body hanging off the edge as Bella snuggled into him.

He reached for the book on the bedside table, and held it above Bella's head. His voice read the words, a calm rhythm that Bella slowly fell asleep to, her breathing slow and her eyes closed.

Charlie stopped reading, knowing Bella wouldn't want to miss any of the story.

But he didn't move. The sun still hadn't fully set and it surprised Charlie that it'd lasted all day. Usually, the sun only blessed them with an hour of its presence before hiding back behind the cover of the clouds.

Only today, it'd been out all day. He thought of Bella's sunshine smile as she ran along the beach into the river, her giggle as she splashed him and her excitement that very morning when she saw the sun in Forks for the first time.

Charlie didn't need the sun to have a good time; he just needed Bella. Bella was the sun in his life.

* * *

_Authors Note: I thought it'd be really nice to explore Bella and Charlie's relationship before Twilight. There's so much we don't know about this time, so it really attracted me. I wanted to include Billy and Sarah into the story somehow. It doesn't tell us specifically when Billy's diabete's confined him to a wheelchair, nor does it tell us when Sarah died. _

_This one-shot is written for the 'Novel Novice Twilight: One Fine Summer Day' contest. Please go to: ht tp:/ www . fanfiction . net/~novel novice twilight (without spaces) to find out more about the contest and, eventually, vote! _

_It'd be nice to hear your thoughts on this, so please review :)_

_Thanks for reading xx_


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